Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Tess Vigeland

Former Host, Marketplace Money

Tess Vigeland was the host of Marketplace Money, a weekly personal finance program that looks at why we do what we do with our money: your life, with dollar signs. Vigeland and her guests took calls from listeners to answer their most vexing money management questions, and the program helped explain what the latest business and financial news means to our wallets and bank accounts. Vigeland joined Marketplace in September 2001, as a host of Marketplace Morning Report. She rose at o-dark-thirty to deliver the latest in business and economic news for nearly four years before returning briefly to reporting and producing. She began hosting Marketplace Money in 2006 and ended her run as host in November of 2012. . Vigeland was also a back-up host for Marketplace. Prior to joining the team at Marketplace, Vigeland reported and anchored for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland, where she received a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Award for her coverage of the political scandal involving Senator Bob Packwood (R-Ore.). She co-hosted the weekly public affairs program Seven Days on OPB television, and also produced an hour-long radio documentary about safety issues at the U.S. Army chemical weapons depot in Eastern Oregon. Vigeland next served as a reporter and backup anchor at WBUR radio in Boston. She also spent two years as a sports reporter for NPR’s Only a Game. For her outstanding achievements in journalism, Vigeland has earned numerous awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists. Vigeland has a bachelor's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is a contributor to The New York Times and is a volunteer fundraiser for the Pasadena Animal League and Pasadena Humane Society. In her free time, Vigeland studies at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music, continuing 20-plus years of training as a classical pianist.

Latest from Tess Vigeland

  • Pam and Craig MacDonald at their Sun City home.
    Nancy Farghalli / Marketplace

    Pam and Craig MacDonald say they reside in the Sun City retirement community, but they don't live there. They, and their son Steve, tell their story to Tess Vigeland.

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  • May 16, 2009

    Getting Personal

    Getting Personal
    Marketplace

    Tess Vigeland and Chris Farrell answer listener questions about life insurance and paying off a credit card cash advance.

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  • Online shopping used to be a haven for better deals. That might not be the case for much longer.
    iStockPhoto.com

    Tess Vigeland talks to The New York Times' Charles Duhigg about his upcoming article on credit card companies collecting more and more personal information about their customers.

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  • Tess Vigeland interviews Arizona State Professor Kevin McHugh at Sun City.
    Nancy Farghalli / Marketplace

    The vision of retirement created by Sun City may not last. Tess Vigeland talks with Kevin McHugh, who has studied the community, for his perspective on its future.

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  • The Sun City, Ariz. sign
    Nancy Farghalli

    The desert community that launched a million retirement dreams for nearly five decades is facing an uncertain future as the American Dream of retirement fades. Tess Vigeland reports.

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  • Giving yourself a credit check
    iStockPhoto.com

    The FICO score is still something many people don't fully understand. Tess Vigeland talks to MSN personal finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston about where to find your score and how to avoid falling into marketing traps.

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  • College students
    iStockPhoto

    High school grads heading to college face difficult decisions about how to pay for tuition and expenses. Many will turn to federal and private student loans. Lauren Asher of Project for Student Debt discusses the student loan process.

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  • May 9, 2009

    Getting Personal

    Getting Personal
    Marketplace

    Tess Vigeland and economics editor Chris Farrell answer listeners' pressing questions about paying off mortgages by retirement, what to do when companies stop 401K contributions and how to choose a financial planner.

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  • Gail George
    Gail George

    Last week we introduced you to Gail George, one of our listeners who agreed to let us track her finances for 30 days. Gail checks in with Tess Vigeland for an update.

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  • May 2, 2009

    Getting Personal

    Getting Personal
    Marketplace

    Tess Vigeland and Chris Farrell answer listeners' pressing questions about using securities to pay off debt, taking out an equity line of credit and whether veritable annuities are a good idea.

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